Sailor Sunrise
by Ceri Moriarty
Summary: Against the forces of darkness, a warrior stands alone. Sailor Sunrise...also known as Kiku Honda, who would prefer that he didn't have to fight said forces of darkness in a skirt. Magical Girl AU, eventual Giripan.
1. Chapter 1

a/n: YES, ANOTHER MULTI-CHAPTER. I'm working on Hetalia in Wonderland, I swear it! It's just that I have serious writer's block on that. Also, I like writing Greece and Japan. Thus, I am beginning a new story.

Disclaimer: IN THE NAME OF THE RISING SUN, I DON'T OWN HETALIA!

_Hetalia!_

It was a perfectly normal day. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping—

"AAAAAHHHHHH!"

—and an innocent bystander was being chased by a…thing, which was itself chased by a schoolgirl. Yup. Perfectly normal day.

"SUPER CHRYSANTHEMUM BEAM!" A bolt of coloured light shot from the tip of the wand the schoolgirl was holding and collided with the…thing. The…thing promptly dissolved into a cloud of sparkles that left no messy corpse behind.

"Oh, thank you, Sailor Sunrise!" the innocent bystander said gratefully to the schoolgirl.

"Do not thank me," the girl ordered. She was short, with short black hair and dark brown eyes. "It was nothing. I am simply doing my job." She turned and ran, her knee-length skirt rippling dramatically in the wind. She disappeared into a nearby alley.

Kiku leaned agains the brick wall of the alley and clutched at a sunburst pendant around his neck. "_Kai_," he muttered, and the Sailor uniform—blouse, sailor collar, skirt, knee socks, and flats—shifted to Kiku's own, slightly more practical clothing—a white button-up, khakis, and sneakers. His form shifted as well, from feminine to more masculine. He sighed and slid down the wall to sit at its base, closing his eyes.

He'd become a Sailor a few weeks ago, when he'd encountered a…thing on the way home from school one day. One moment, utter normality—the next, _bam_, new outfit and new powers. He'd had a dream that night in which a formless apparition told him about what it was to be a Sailor and gave him the sunburst pendant and his alias, Sailor Sunrise.

Over the past few weeks, he'd occasionally gotten texts from a blocked number, telling him of various…things that he had to go and fight. The battles invariably involved running (in flats, no less) and the yelling of peculiar attack names.

Opening his eyes, Kiku pushed himself to his feet. Battles were always exhausting, partly due to the transformation, partly due to the running. He'd probably get home all right, but he made no guarantees to himself that he'd be able to get his homework done.

On his way home, he paused by a city park. It was a very peaceful place, easy to fall asleep in. A little rest would do him good. He made the turn and wandered the pathways slowly, appreciating what warmth the fading sunlight gave. After a while, he happened upon one of the many benches scattered around the park and sat down.

"Mew?"

Kiku looked down to where the sound had come from. It was a little kitten, barely bigger than a puff of pale gold fur. It directed its cuteness at Kiku, and he could not resist. He picked up the kitten and held it gently, slowly stroking its ears. It purred.

"Um, excuse me…"

Kiku looked up. Before him stood a boy, about Kiku's age, with curly brown hair and sleepy green eyes. Unlike Kiku, he was dressed quite casually in a white t-shirt and brown cargo pants.

"Yes?" Kiku asked.

"That's…my cat," the boy said.

"I apologise," Kiku replied, standing to offer the kitten.

"No…I have too many cats already," the boy refused. Indeed, he was surrounded by a veritable horde of cats—big cats, small cats, fluffy cats, shorthairs, black cats, white cats, tortoiseshells, tabbies—there must have been at least fifteen, if not more than that. "Keep her…she needs a home."

"Ah…thank you," Kiku answered. "It's nice to meet you. My name is Kiku Honda." He bowed, mindful of the kitten in his arms.

"Oh…it's nice to meet you too, Kiku," the boy replied. "My name is…Herakles Karpusi. There's no need to…stand on formality," he commented, and sat down on the bench, the many cats swarming around him and climbing onto him.

Kiku sat. "So…what is the the cat's name?"

"She…doesn't have one yet," Herakles admitted. "She hasn't…been with me for long, so I haven't…bothered to name her yet."

"I think, then…I'll call her Sunshine," Kiku decided.

Sunshine purred.

"So…Kiku…"

"Mm?"

"Why did you pick up my cat?"

Kiku hesitated. "Well…she is very cute."

Herakles nodded. "Kittens are like that."

They sat in comfortable silence like old friends, though they'd only just met. Perhaps it was the sleepy air of the park, perhaps it was the mutual love of cats, but whatever it was, they got along well.

The calm was shattered by a shrill beeping noise. Kiku glanced at his watch and panicked.

"Ah! I'm late!" he exclaimed, jumping to his feet. "Ah…Karpusi-san, will you be here tomorrow at a similar time?"

Herakles smiled and nodded. "Yes…I'll be here," he confirmed. "Or…somewhere nearby."

"Ah—thank you again, Karpusi-san!" Kiku raced off towards home, still holding Sunshine in his arms. He didn't know if he'd see Karpusi-san again, but he certainly hoped so. It was nice to meet someone else who wasn't part of the bustle of the world.

_Hetalia!_

a/n: Yes. Kiku is a Magical Girl. Yes, Kiku has to crossdress. Poor thing.

More will be revealed later, I swear. Also, I'll make an effort to make everything a plot point, so look out for that!


	2. Chapter 2

a/n: Here's chapter two! I hope you all like it!

By the way, Japan's Sailor name comes from his country's nickname, the Land of the Rising Sun.

Disclaimer: If I ruled the world…but sadly, no.

_Hetalia!_

_Kiku floated peacefully in the void. It was dark and silent, neither warm nor cold, scentless, tasteless, and without any texture._

_ It was nice, to be so utterly without stimulation, to be free of the hustle, bustle, and worry of the waking world._

_ Sadly, it was not to last. A point of golden light appeared in the blackness. Slowly, it grew larger, until its shape became clear._

_ Sunshine mewed at him, except instead of a mew, he heard words he could understand._

_ "Sailor Sunrise, right?" the cat said._

_ "Ah—yes, that's me," Kiku affirmed._

_ Sunshine looked him up and down (mostly up) skeptically. "Somehow, I imagined you as more…girly."_

_ "Didn't we meet this afternoon?" Kiku asked._

_ If cats could shrug, Sunshine would have. "This _is_ the first chance I've gotten to speak with you. So you're the newest Sailor?"_

_ Kiku nodded. "I think so, yes."_

_ "'Scuse me if I'm wrong, but…aren't Sailors usually girls?" Sunshine pointed out._

_ "I do not know for certain, but yes, I think so," Kiku answered. "I am unsure of why I in particular became a Sailor, but I strongly suspect that I was simply at the right place at the right time."_

_ "That's probably the way things work," Sunshine agreed. "Anyway, I've forgotten the main point of this dream—introducing myself to you. I," she said proudly, leaping up to land on Kiku's shoulder, "am your familiar-slash-mascot-slash-whatever. Thus, I can talk and I'll stalk you everywhere, whether you like it or not. I might also get some other cool powers of my own, like blowing stuff up or causing more mass chaos than I would already, but that'll show up later. Oh, yeah, and I also know anything and everything you ever wanted to know about your job. Like the real name of the…things. Have fun fighting evil, and don't forget—_never_ take that pendant off!" With that, the cat leapt down and disappeared into the shadows._

Kiku woke to the shrill beeping of his alarm. He sat up slowly, turning the noise off as he did so.

Sunshine lay curled up at the foot of his futon like a normal cat. She cracked an eye open. "Wake me when the sun rises," she muttered.

"A very good morning to you too, Sunshine-chan," Kiku returned, pulling himself reluctantly from the warmth of his bedding. He would have been surprised to hear the cat speak, except for two things: One, he was used to strange things happening by now, and two, he was not yet awake enough to be startled. "Now, if you would please move—I must put my futon away."

Sunshine had gone back to sleep.

Kiku sighed and picked her up to move her. Kittens really were a lot of trouble.

_Hetalia!_

It was a pleasant morning, cool and crisp but not too cold. Kiku took his time walking to school, wishing to savor what peace he could get that day.

He hadn't bothered to collect Sunshine on the way out the door, as she had been sleeping curled into a ball and she'd been too cute to disturb.

Kiku arrived at school a little early, with enough time to make his way up to the rooftop as he liked to do sometimes. As he seated himself on the concrete that was slowly being warmed by the rising sun, his bag made a strange "meep" sound. He unzipped the top of the bag to investigate.

""You didn't _really_ think I'd stay behind, did you?" Sunshine asked, directing her kitten cuteness full-force at Kiku as she hopped out of the bag.

Kiku sighed. "No, not really, but I had hoped." He considered his options: Try to make her go home (somehow, he doubted that would work very well) or allow her to stay and hope she didn't cause too much chaos. "All right, you can stay, if you so wish," he conceded. "Just don't cause any trouble, please."

If kittens could grin, Sunshine would have. "No problem, Sailor."

"Please don't call me that."

"Yes, Sailor."

Normally, Kiku would never admit defeat, but this _was_ against a cat, and cats were notoriously stubborn. He gave up. "Also, please do not talk where others can hear you."

"I gotcha, Sailor," Sunshine agreed, sauntering back to Kiku's bag. "Call me if there's a…thing or whatever, 'kay?"

"I will call on your assistance if it is needed," Kiku agreed, zipping his bag nearly shut just as the first bell rang.

_Hetalia!_

"Class," the teacher began as the students finished trickling through the door, "we have a transfer student joining us today." She beckoned to someone standing unnoticeably off to the side.

_No way, it couldn't be_, Kiku thought. _That would be ridiculously cliché—_

"Would you please introduce yourself to the class?" the teacher asked.

The student stepped forward. "My name is…Herakles Karpusi," he said. "And…I like cats."

"Karpusi-kun's family is from Greece and moved here for his father's job," the teacher explained. "Now, choose any empty seat," she instructed.

Kiku both cursed and blessed the lack of empty seats surrounding him. Cursed, because it would mean that he would not get to sit next to Herakles (_and why do you care?_ the logical part of his brain asked him), and blessed, because it prevented the situation from becoming any more cliché than it already was.

Herakles found a seat next to one of Kiku's acquaintances, Sadiq. It was one of the only empty seats in the classroom, which was unfortunate, as it seemed that the two disliked each other instantly.

Kiku turned his attention away from the impending feud and toward the teacher, who was just beginning the lesson.

_Hetalia!_

a/n: Yes, I know. The whole transfer-student-who-met-our-hero(ine)-beforehand thing is very cliché. It could be worse. Oh yes, it could be _much_ worse. [cackles]

Please do review. It makes this author feel loved.


	3. Chapter 3

a/n: I'm not dead! I swear! I was in Spain's house on a school trip! (I know. I'm lucky.) And then ffnet completely killed itself or whatever and then my internet was broken. Arrgh.

Anyway, I wrote this chapter forever ago, but I never got it typed up. I swear I'll get the next chapter up quickly! (Or at least more quickly than this one.)

Did everybody hear about Japan having a bad month? Tsunami, earthquake, and some issues with nuclear reactors. Review to send hugs to Japan!

By the way, days pass really slowly in this universe, but lots of things happen each day. I promise.

Disclaimer: If Kiku and Herakles were mine, they would be even more canon than they already are. (That would be difficult, but it would be done.) Kiku would also show up in a skirt more.

_Hetalia!_

All was going well until the third class of the day, when Sunshine poked her tiny head out of Kiku's bag.

"There's a…thing," she hissed.

"Where?" Kiku hissed back. "And is it currently a threat to anyone?"

Sunshine squinted her blue eyes in concentration. "It's…in the library," she eventually said. "And…yes, I think it's a threat."

"Drat," Kiku muttered. He fidgeted slightly. He wanted to destroy the…thing, but at the same time he couldn't miss the lesson. He debated it with himself—to go, or not to go? "Sunshine-chan," he asked, "will it take long to defeat?"

"Depends on how fast you work," the kitten answered. "It's fairly strong, which is why I mentioned it."

Kiku sighed quietly. This whole Sailor thing was his duty—he was able to deal with it, thus he should. He raised his hand.

"…and these are the foods one should—yes, Honda-kun?"

"May I be excused, sir?" Kiku asked. "I have to use the restroom."

The teacher waved his hand. "Go."

Gratefully, Kiku slid out of his seat and walked out of the classroom, not bothering to grab his bag. He made his way through the corridors of the school until he reached the door to the library. He risked a peek through the window and saw the…thing Sunshine had mentioned. It was sitting in the middle of a clear space in the shelves. The librarian was nowhere to be seen.

"Perfect," Kiku muttered to himself. He gripped his sunburst pendant tightly and whispered, "In the name of the rising sun, I go to fight…things. _Henge_." There was a sharp burst of light and his clothes an body shifted to those of Sailor Sunrise.

Taking a deep breath, he slammed the library door open. "…Thing!" he yelled, still a little surprised by the girl's voice he had when transformed. "As is my duty, I come to prevent you from doing evil! Return to your home dimension at once, or face annihilation!" He was never sure where the words—or the confidence—came from. He assumed it was part of being a Sailor.

The…thing turned its attention towards him. Once it registered the Sailor uniform, it growled.

Kiku—no, Sailor Sunrise at this point—growled back.

The…thing leapt.

_Hetalia!_

A loud _crash_ echoed through the school building, startling Herakles from his slumber.

"What was that?" he asked worriedly.

The teacher stopped talking. "That was…" he began uncertainly.

"I vote we go check it out," Sadiq said.

Herakles dropped his head back down on his folded arms. Although he and Sadiq had only just met, they despised each other like they'd been enemies for centuries. Thus, anything that interested Sadiq instantly bored Herakles.

He _was_ a bit curious about the explosion, though. Only three classes in and already it was more interesting than his old school.

The teacher wavered. "Well…all right, we'll go see what that sound was all about."

"It sounded like it came from the library," another student mentioned helpfully.

They rushed off to investigate.

_Hetalia!_

As the dust from the impact cleared, Sailor Sunrise staggered to her feet. The…thing had thrown her into a bookshelf, knocking it over. Fortunately, it hadn't been particularly close to the other shelves, so no other shelves were knocked over.

The…thing roared. It shook the rafters and brought more dust drifting down.

Sailor Sunrise winced, but held up her wand. "Super…" she began.

The…thing squeaked and tried to run. Sailor Sunrise chased after it.

"Chrysanthemum…"

The…thing collided with a bookshelf, bringing down several volumes. Sailor Sunrise flipped over the pile and continued chasing.

"BEAM!"

A bolt of light shot from the tip of the wand. It hit the…thing, causing both to explode in a shower of sparks.

It was then that Kiku noticed his audience. They were crowded into the library doorway, staring in shock and awe. He blushed and fled out the back door.

_Hetalia!_

Herakles stared after the pretty girl in the strange school uniform.

That girl…she'd looked a lot like Kiku.

_Hetalia!_

a/n: DUN DUN DUHN! What does Herakles know? What does he suspect? Is Kiku ever going to stop having to wear a skirt? (The answer to that last one, btw, is no. Poor Kiku.)

Speaking of the skirt, no it did not flip up when Sunrise performed that flip. The reason is this: Magic Skirt. Go look it up on TVTropes if you don't know what it is.

Glee. I'm using a lot of tropes in this story. Paper Thin Disguise is one of them. Magical Girl is another. Wholesome Crossdresser (poor Kiku). Magic Skirt. Most Common Superpower will show up later. YKTTW there's a mysterious monster. I Got Better may or may not show up at some point. MacGuffin will probably show up. Plot Trinket, almost definitely. Big Bad? A must. I don't know about any others, but there will probably be more.

Something I keep forgetting: The reason Herakles' name is spelled with a K is because there is no C in the Greek alphabet. It goes alpha, beta, gamma, delta—A, B, G, D. No C.

Also, _Kai_ means "release" and _Henge_ means "change". If these translations/words are not correct, please inform me of this and I will endeavour to fix it.

Also, if there is something about my writing style that bothers you, please inform me of what it is, why exactly it bothers you, and what I can do to fix it—even if it's just a little thing, like spelling colour with a u or having too many commas. Thank you!

Please review to tell me what you think! It takes thirty seconds and brightens up my day!


	4. Chapter 4

a/n: THIS CHAPTER IS DEDICATED TO ALL THE WONDERFUL WONDERFUL WONDERFUL PEOPLE WHO REVIEWED. I LOVE YOU GUYS, SERIOUSLY.

Disclaimer: You know the drill, da? Or perhaps I will have to drill it into your heads again? That was a funny joke, da? With drill and drill? Nyet? Oh. How sad. Nobody ever gets my jokes, except for little Latvia. /russia

_Hetalia!_

At lunch that day, Herakles approached Kiku's table. "May I…sit here?"

Kiku nodded, mouth too full to answer. He was really hungry today—battles always drained him.

"Do you…have any siblings, Kiku?" Herakles asked.

Kiku swallowed and shook his head. "No, but I have several cousins. Why do you ask?"

"I saw someone today who looked a lot like you," Herakles said. "She was dressed in a school uniform, except she had a kind of wand. And she was fighting this…thing."

Inwardly, Kiku panicked. _He knows!_ Outwardly, he maintained his cool demeanor. "Ah, you must have seen Sailor Sunrise," he said. "She's fairly well-known around here, but nobody knows who she really is."

Herakles considered this. "Well, she looks a lot like you…"

"I am surely not _that_ feminine!" Kiku joked.

Herakles shrugged. "Well…perhaps if you were a girl…you might look like that. So if she was your sister, then that might make sense…but you don't have a sister…so I don't know who it might have been."

Kiku sighed very slightly in relief. _He suspects nothing._ "Ah. Well, many speculate on her identity, but like I said, nobody really knows."

Herakles nodded, and the matter was dropped.

_Hetalia!_

It was the last class of the day. Things had been going well thus far. Kiku had hoped that things would continue to go well until he got home, at the very least. Sadly, it was not to be.

Sunshine was nowhere to be found.

The kitten had jumped out of his bag between classes and he'd had no time to look for her. His face was still perfectly calm, of course—it wouldn't do to be anything less than composed in public. Privately, he was freaking out. _The very first day with Sunshine and I lost her. Good job, Honda._

He reminded himself that Sunshine was his familiar, and thus should be able to take care of herself. Still, she could get into a lot of trouble. He shuddered at the thought of the havoc she could wreak.

A ball of scrunched-up paper landed on his desk. Carefully, so as not to rip it, he picked it apart and smoothed it flat.

_Hey, Kiku_

_ What's up, man? You're totally spacing out._

It was in Sadiq's handwriting.

Kiku scribbled a hurried reply, folded the note into a paper airplane, and carefully launched it towards Sadiq's desk.

_I'm just worried about my cat._

Sadiq's reply came quickly. _You have a cat?_

_ Yes._

_ Since when?_

_ Yesterday._

_ What does it look like._

_ She's a little golden ball of fur. She is very cute._

_ Sounds like it. What's her name?_

_ Sunshine._

_ Cute. So, why're you worried about her?_

_ Well, she is very small, and she could get hurt._

_ You're such a worrywart. Chill._

_ I am not a_

"Honda-kun, is that a note?"

Kiku looked up to see the teacher, arms folded, tapping his foot. Guiltily, Kiku gave him the piece of paper, resting his head on his folded arms once the teacher had returned to the board. Evidently, he would be worrying about Sunshine later.

_Hetalia!_

That day after school, Herakles found Kiku in the hallway.

"Ah! Karpusi-kun!" Kiku exclaimed. "I didn't see you there. Good afternoon." He bowed.

"Oh…good afternoon, Kiku," Herakles said. "How is your cat doing? Her name was Sunshine, right?"

Kiku nodded. "I assume she is doing quite well."

"What do you mean you assume—" Herakles was cut off by a loud crash, followed by a shout.

Kiku sighed. "That would be her. Excuse me." He bowed again hurriedly and ran off to find his cat.

_Hetalia!_

It was not difficult to find Sunshine. All Kiku had to do was follow the crash.

There she sat, a little golden puff of fun with perfectly innocent blue eyes, right in the middle of a pile of glass shards. A teacher was observing the mess. When Kiku sighed quietly, the teacher turned to look at him.

"Ah. Honda-kun. Is this your cat?"

Kiku nodded and scooped up the kitten. "I'm very sorry, sir. It won't happen again." He fled.

_Hetalia!_

"What did I say about causing trouble?" Kiku muttered to Sunshine, who was perched on his shoulder.

"Not to do it," Sunshine answered cheekily. "But did you _really_ expect me to obey? I am a _cat_, after all."

Kiku sighed. "You do have a point."

"Naturally."

They were on their way to the park where Kiku had met Herakles the day before. After school was the prime time for a…thing to attack, but Kiku was hoping that there wouldn't be two battles in one day. Surely Fate wasn't that mean.

They reached the park without incident. Kiku found the bench that he had met Herakles at the previous day and sat, Sunshine in his lap, his cat's namesake pooling around him. It was wonderfully peaceful. Within minutes, his eyes had drifted shut as he slipped into a doze.

_Hetalia!_

a/n: Picture this: Sleeping Kiku, on a bench in a pool of sunlight, a kitten curled up in his lap. Is that not the cutest thing you have ever imagined?

I must be making up for not posting anything for a month. I am, again, terribly sorry about that. Unfortunately, it might happen again. I must apologise repeatedly.

I seriously love all the people who reviewed the last chapter, and I reply to every review I receive. Please take one minute of your day to review! Thank you!


	5. Chapter 5

a/n: I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed~! It seems that most people read this for the Kiku-in-a-skirt factor…I admit, it's a highly entertaining image (which is why I'm writing this). But I didn't think that so many people would agree with me.

I'm really sorry for not updating Hetalia in Wonderland for so long. I swear, I will finish it. It might take a while. But I will finish it, dammit. Please tolerate the lack of updates until I get my sorry act together.

Also: OMG SAKURACON. SO MUCH FUN. I cosplayed Chibimano and was incessantly cuddled by Spains, which I (in character) objected to strongly. And and and and I joined a cosplay group and I'm apparently Austria.

_Hetalia!_

Sunlight was nice, Herakles decided as he was walking through the same park as usual, hands casually in his pockets. It was warm, which was good for napping. It was also bright, which wasn't so good for napping, but that was tolerable. Kiku's cat was named Sunshine, wasn't she? She was awfully cute.

Oh! There was Kiku now, most likely asleep, on a bench in a pool of sunshine, his cat purring quietly in his lap. Herakles took a moment to admire the picture the boy, cat, bench, and sunlight made before settling himself on the bench beside Kiku. He moved as quietly as possible, not wanting to wake the other, but Kiku's brown eyes fluttered open.

"Ah! Good afternoon, Karpusi-kun!" Kiku said, blinking the sleep from his eyes. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to fall asleep, but I was just so tired that—"

"Don't worry about it," Herakles said. "In fact…I should be the one apologizing…I woke you."

"No, no, it's fine," Kiku said. He yawned, covering his mouth with his hand. "So, how are you doing, Karpusi-kun?"

"Please…call me Herakles. And I'm doing well," Herakles answered. "And you?"

"I am well," Kiku said. "So, what brings you here today?"

Herakles blinked. "Well…I promised to meet you here, didn't I? I also…walk through this park a lot. You?"

Kiku glanced down and to one side. "Well…I was waiting for you, actually."

Before Herakles could form a reply, a loud roar echoed through the park, shaking the leaves on the trees. Kiku leapt to his feet.

"Ah! I'm sorry, but I have to go!" he exclaimed, dashing away, trailed by his cat.

That was strange, Herakles thought. And what was that noise?

_Hetalia!_

Skidding to a stop behind a tree, Kiku clutched his sunburst pendant in one hand. "In the name of the rising sun, I go to fight…things. _Henge_," he muttered, causing his form and clothes to shift to those of Sailor Sunrise. Why oh why oh why oh _why_did there have to be a…thing _now_? He had been having a lovely conversation with Herakles, and before that a lovely nap, and he was already tired from the battle earlier, so _why_? Did the universe hate him today?

Dodging out from behind the tree, Kiku ran off in the direction of the noise. No matter how tired he was, it was Sailor Sunrise's duty to defeat and destroy…things.

_Hetalia!_

Sighing and pushing himself to his feet, Herakles ambled off in the direction of the noise. He was too curious to _not_ investigate.

Eventually, he was at the street. Another roar echoed through the air, closer this time. Herakles changed his direction accordingly and increased his pace.

When he finally arrived at the origin of the noise, he was greeted by a sight very similar to what he had seen in the library earlier that day. There was a…thing, and there was that girl who looked like Kiku but wasn't, and they were fighting. The girl—Sailor Sunrise, Herakles remembered she was called—seemed to be winning—she was striking the most blows, and the…thing appeared to by having some difficulty—until the…thing suddenly recovered itself and sent the girl flying. She landed hard on the sidewalk but pushed herself to her feet.

"What was that, a love tap?" she challenged. "You'll have to hit a lot harder that that if you want to take me down!" She aimed her wand at the…thing. "Strike of One Thousand Sakura Petals!"

A whirlwind of pink dots swirled up from the ground and surrounded the…thing, striking it all at once. The…thing roared in pain and swatted at Sailor Sunrise. This time, she crashed into a building, sliding down to the ground.

This time, she didn't get up again.

He knew it wasn't really his business, but Herakles rushed over to the girl anyway. Her eyes were closed and she had several scratches plus a cut oozing blood on her forehead, but she was breathing.

She was also changing shape before Herakles' eyes. Her form was straightening from the generous curves she'd had before to something much more masculine. Her clothes were changing too, from a skirt and blouse to a button-up shirt and khaki pants.

Herakles' eyes widened in shock. This—this was…!

_Hetalia!_

a/n: WHO IS THIS MYSTERIOUS PERSON?

I'm kidding. Everybody knows who it is. Right?

Most Common Superpower, oh yes. No matter how unrealistic it may seem, heroines always have the Most Common Superpower. Well, almost always. (http:/ / tvtropes. org/ / Main/ MostCommonSuperpower) Check out this fabulous link if you don't know what it is.

Short chapter is short. I'M SO SORRY~! I swear I'll write a longer one sometime soon. I'm pretty sure chapter 7 is pretty long. But chapter lengths will vary.

Kiku's attack, _Strike of One Thousand Sakura Petals_, is inspired by Byakuya Kuchiki's Zanpakutou, Senbonzakura, from _Bleach_. Manliest Zanpakutou ever.

Disclaimer: Kii-chan is unfortunately not mine. Neither is Hera-chan. More characters will show up in the next chapter, if only in a sorta-cameo/one-liner thing.

Thank you for reading! Please leave a review to tell me what you think of it/your favourite part/something that really annoys you!

If you were at Sakuracon and saw a Chibimano with a giant poofy blue skirt, a pink shirt, and a kerchief (oh yeah and an apron too), that was me! Tell me if you met me there and who you were!


	6. Chapter 6

a/n: I've recently been RPing Germany and Austria with a friend. I'm Austria. It's a lot of fun, and Germany is so cute~

_Hetalia!_

Herakles stared in shock at the unconscious body before him. What—this was Kiku! Kiku was Sailor Sunrise?

The…thing roared again, calling Herakles' attention. _Worry later. Deal with the…thing now._ He glanced up, turning and standing so he could better defend Kiku against the…thing if necessary.

The…thing glared at him, then, deeming him to be no threat, vanished.

Herakles returned his attention to the unconscious Kiku. He gently shook the other boy's shoulder, then when that failed to wake him, picked him up carefully. At the very least, they should remove themselves from this public street, where people were starting to stare at them.

_Hetalia!_

The first thing Kiku registered was that he was being carried. The second thing was that his head hurt. A lot. What exactly had happened?

Oh. Right. …thing. He had lost, for the first time in his (admittedly short) time as a Sailor. That supplied a reason for the headache, but not for the being carried.

He opened his eyes carefully, unable to stop the quiet groan that escaped his lips.

"Oh…you're awake," Herakles' voice said from somewhere above him. "How are you feeling?"

Ah. So Herakles was carrying him. Kiku still didn't quite understand why, but he would figure that out later. "Just fine, thank you. Could you please put me down?"

Herakles complied, letting Kiku's feet down slowly, steadying him as he stood. "That was a nasty knock on the head you got there…"

"What are you talking about?" Kiku asked with a sinking feeling in his stomach that he knew exactly what.

"That…thing threw you against the wall pretty hard," Herakles said. "So…you're Sailor Sunrise? I…never would have guessed."

Kiku nodded, figuring it wouldn't be much use to deny it, then regretted it as the world spun around him. "Yes, I'm Sailor Sunrise. Please don't tell anyone."

Herakles nodded. "All right." He paused. "So…are you really all right? If I'm correct…you've fought…things twice today, and that last one kit you pretty hard…"

"I assure you, I am perfectly fine," Kiku lied. He bowed, ignoring the dizziness it brought. "I will see you tomorrow, Karpusi-kun." With that, he turned and left. Herakles watched him go, trying to ignore the cold twist of worry in his stomach.

_Hetalia!_

Kiku wasn't at school the next day.

Herakles watched the ominously empty seat a few rows in front of him. The previous day, Kiku had clearly not been "just fine," no matter what he had said, and now he was absent. This worried Herakles. This worried him greatly.

The teacher's voice was but a drone in the background as Herakles fretted over the health of his friend. Friend? They had only known each other for two days. Somehow, it seemed longer than that.

Herakles had kept his promise not to tell anyone—really, who would he tell? Apart from family, the only people he knew here were Kiku and Sadiq, and he'd hardly tell Sadiq anything. In Herakles' opinion, that boy couldn't be trusted with the location of the cookie jar, much less the secret identity of Sailor Sunrise.

Before Herakles knew it, the school day was over and the teacher was asking for a volunteer to "take today's notes and homework to Honda-kun, please."

"I'll do it," Herakles offered.

"No way! I'll do it!" Sadiq said, jumping to his feet. "Kiku's _my_ friend! You don't even know him!"

_Oh, you have no idea how well I know him_, Herakles thought angrily. He also stood, although with less enthusiasm. "I volunteered first," he pointed out. "And I do know Kiku."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah."

"I know where his house is, so I should do it!"

"I can get directions."

"You'd probably still get lost!" Sadiq taunted.

"Hmph. Like Kiku would want someone like you showing up on his doorstep."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You know perfectly well—"

"Boys!" the teacher yelled. "Why don't you go _together_?" she suggested. "Then you can both check up on your friend and Adnan-kun can make sure you don't get lost." Seeing the glares Herakles and Sadiq were shooting each other, she offered another option. "Or _neither_ of you can go and I'll send someone else entirely. I'm sure Jones-kun would be more than happy to do it."

The boy in question pumped his fist. "Oh yeah! I'm totally set to be the hero!"

Sadiq and Herakles exchanged glances. Almost _anything_ would be better than that…_loudness_. "We'll go together," they agreed in unison before returning to glaring at each other.

_Hetalia!_

a/n: The plot is thickening like a good stew…I just hope it doesn't burn and stick to the bottom of the pan…

Disclaimer: Not mine. Do I really have to keep saying this?

Please leave a review to let me know what you think~! Especially if you think they're out of character—explain clearly and rationally how the characters should be different and I'll fix it! Please. Tell me how I'm doing. It takes a minute. If you don't have an account, that's not a difficulty. You can still click that little button. Thank you.


	7. Chapter 7

a/n: I'm sorry I'm so late! I've just been distracted with school and I've joined a cosplay group (I am their Austria and their Romano).

_Hetalia!_

Herakles rang the doorbell; Sadiq's hands were full of paper. The door was answered by a short, middle-aged, black-haired woman who was likely Kiku's mother.

"Oh! Adnan-kun!" she exclaimed. "I see you've brought Kiku's homework. And…who's this?" She indicated Herakles.

"Nobody," Sadiq said at the same time that Herakles answered, "Herakles Karpusi. I'm a friend of Kiku's." This was their cue to resume their glaring contest.

Mrs. Honda ushered them through the door. "Please, do come in. I'll just go and see if Kiku's awake." More quietly she said, "Do either of you know what happened? Kiku won't say a word, and he looks like he got in a fight or something!"

Sadiq shook his head. Herakles hesitated slightly before doing the same. How exactly would he explain? It wasn't like he could say, "Oh, yeah, your son happens to be Sailor Sunrise and he got hurt fighting the forces of evil." That would also fall under the category of breaking his promise, so that was two counts against it.

Mrs. Honda sighed and left the room, presumably to go fetch Kiku. Herakles and Sadiq waited awkwardly in the hall, each not quite sure what to say to the other.

"Karpusi-kun? Adnan-kun?"

Both waiting boys glanced over to Kiku, who had spoken. He was leaning slightly on the doorframe and looked exhausted. Both Herakles and Sadiq hurried to fetch a chair but were both beaten by Mrs. Honda. Kiku insisted quietly that he was fine, but a glare from his mother sent him into the seat with no further protest.

"Hey, Kiku," Sadiq greeted him at the same moment that Herakles said, "Hello, Kiku." The glaring contest resumed.

"Good afternoon," Kiku replied. "I see that you two have brought today's notes and homework. That is very kind of you."

He went unanswered, the thick animosity between Sadiq and Herakles filling the room with a heavy, oppressive air. The silence stretched like taffy, sticky and unbreakable.

"So…how are you two doing?" Kiku asked eventually. "Please answer one at a time—you can use jan-ken-pon to decide who goes first, and then the other one can go first the next time around."

After a brief match of rock-paper-scissors, Herakles emerged victorious. "I'm doing well," he answered.

"I'm doin' good," Sadiq said a few seconds after.

"You, Kiku?" they asked in unison, which prompted another glaring match.

"Please do not fight in my house," Kiku sighed. "And I am well. Please do not concern yourselves with me. It would be kind of you if you could leave the notes and homework on that table there, Adnan-kun, and then you two can return to your homes. I am sure that you both have your own homework to do." He stood and bowed. "Thank you very much for coming to see me."

Sadiq placed the papers on the table indicated and both boys left to return to their separate homes.

_Hetalia!_

Kiku sighed quietly and lay back on his futon. It was terribly unfortunate that Sadiq and Herakles appeared to hate each other. He would have preferred that they all get along—he hated conflict.

"So, Sailor, how ya doin'?" Sunshine asked, derailing his train of thought. "That was a pretty nasty knock you got there…"

"Please stop bringing it up, Kiku said. "And I am doing fine. I heal quickly." He sat up and picked up the pile of papers to get started on his homework. "I will be back in school tomorrow—I could not leave the…things to roam unchecked for another day. It is my duty as a Sailor to defeat the…things, and I must not shirk my duty."

Sunshine still looked concerned, but allowed the matter to drop.

_Hetalia!_

"You will _stay home_," Kiku ordered, pointing at his kitten. "And you will _not_ wreak any havoc."

"But what if—"

"No ifs! I do not want to deal with you causing trouble again. _Stay. Here._"

Sunshine sighed and retreated into the house. "Okay, Sailor."

"Don't call me that."

"Sure thing, Sailor~!"

Kiku glanced at his watch—he was almost late. He dashed off, schoolbag bumping against his legs as he ran. He would just make it if he hurried.

_Hetalia!_

a/n: That chapter really didn't take long to type up at all. I'm sorry for the lack of things happening—I promise the next chapter will be more interesting. Really, it will. There will be explosions.

Disclaimer: I'm too tired to come up with a witty way to say I don't own Hetalia.


	8. Chapter 8

_a/n: I've been working on a Kingdom Hearts fic recently. It's an alternate universe of the series with Saïx as the main character. The plot is pretty complicated thus far, so I'm really excited to see how it turns out! Would anybody be interested in reading this?_

_The reason I mention this here is because sea-salt ice cream is mentioned in this chapter. Yes, Kiku plays Kingdom Hearts obsessively. It's part of his personality as Japan._

_I rewrote this chapter so many times. I think I'm finally happy with it, but meh. It works and is plotful. It's good enough. I'm not going to rewrite it more than twice._

_Kiku has a lot of new attacks recently. I'm having fun with attack names. I get to come up with random things._

_Li is Hong Kong, fyi._

_Hetalia's not mine. What would make you think it was?_

_Enjoy~_

* * *

The school day was relatively free of incident, unless one counted Li and Alfred conspiring to blow up the chemistry lab for the umpteenth time, which earned them several detentions apiece and a death glare from the teacher. As Kiku was packing up to go home, Herakles came up to him.

"So…Kiku…" he said. "I was wondering…would you like to get some ice cream with me? I found this…wonderful little ice cream place. Their chairs are very comfortable."

"Eh? Now?" Kiku asked. When Herakles nodded, Kiku said, "Oh…yes, thank you."

_Hetalia!_

Kiku couldn't remember the last time he'd had ice cream with a friend. Sadiq was more of a video games person, which Kiku definitely didn't object to, but it meant outings were rare. This was nice, he concluded.

"So, Kiku, how do you like your ice cream?" Herakles asked.

Kiku swallowed his current mouthful of sea-salt ice cream and nodded. "It's quite good," he said. "So, you've been in this town for just a week, right? So…how have you managed to find all these wonderful places so quickly?"

Herakles shrugged. "I like to explore," he said nonchalantly. "It's easy to find places when—what was that?"

"It sounded like an explosion," Kiku observed. "And it came from over…there…oh, bother, not again."

The thing, which had appeared from behind a corner, smashed an appendage into the ground, forcing passerby to flee. Kiku leapt from his seat and dashed into a nearby alleyway. He fished his sunburst pendant out from under his shirt and whispered, "In the name of the rising sun, I go to fight things. _Henge_." He changed form and ran out of the alley into the plaza.

The thing spotted him, roared, and charged, not caring about the people in its way.

Kiku took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "Mountain Blade!" he cried, flinging his arms apart. The thing staggered as a wall of force hit it and, slowly, it toppled over with a _thud_. It vanished in a cloud of sparkles.

Kiku sighed and sat down on the sidewalk to catch his breath for a moment. The Mountain Blade spell was very powerful—good for ending fights quickly—but it was also very exhausting.

There was another roar.

_Not again_, Kiku thought. He'd never fought more than one thing at once, nor one right after the other. It really wasn't his week.

As the thing rounded the corner, Sailor Sunrise stood to perform her duty.

_Hetalia!_

Herakles watched worriedly from behind a table that had been overturned as Kiku got to his feet. This was really too much! Herakles really didn't know anything about Kiku's magic, but that last attack looked like it took a lot out of him. And now he had to fight another thing right after the first one.

Herakles debated helping. He would probably just get in the way, but if he didn't do anything he'd just be sitting there helplessly and he really couldn't do that, not with Kiku in danger.

He peeked out from behind the table. Kiku appeared to be losing—he was taking a lot of hits and hadn't been able to land many of his own.

"Psst. Hey, you," a voice said from close to the ground. "Yes, you. Down here."

Herakles glanced down. A small golden puff of fur looked back at him. That was Sunshine, Kiku's kitten, wasn't it? How was she talking?

"Don't ask questions right now," Sunshine ordered. "Look, Kiku's in deep trouble. He's low on energy and he's going to lose this fight if something drastic doesn't happen soon. Do you want to help him or not?"

Slowly, Herakles nodded. "What's the plan?" he asked.

Before Sunshine could answer, the cry of another attack name split the air.

"Divine Wind!" Kiku yelled, holding his wand high above his head.

Very, very gradually—it was almost impossible to tell when it began—Kiku started to glow with a golden light like the last dying rays of a sunset. The light spread out in a circle, smashing through the thing and dissolving it into its component particles. Soon, the whole plaza was ablaze. Kiku's feet lifted slightly off the ground, his eyes closed and his expression blank.

Slowly, very slowly, the light faded away. Kiku crumpled to the ground before Herakles could catch him. His soft brown eyes flickered open briefly, then closed again.

* * *

_a/n: OH YES. CLIFFHANGER. I apologise deeply for the super lateness of this!_

_A partial reason that this wasn't up last week: I was traveling with my family to France's house. Yes, yes, I'm a lucky devil. The food was very tasty (of course), the public transportation was entertaining, the flight was dull as hell, the weather was lovely, and I found out that there are actually French people who laugh like France does in the dub (that "onhonhonhonhon" type thing he does). I also found the Austrian embassy in Paris (that was greatly entertaining) and an arch commemorating a French victory over Austria. Pictures had to be taken, of course. I took a lot of pictures in general—I had compursive need to take picture of everysing. /dub quote_

_Tell me in a review/PM if you'd be interested in the KH AU fic I mentioned at the beginning! Heck, review anyway. I love you guys, seriously. When I'm having a bad day, all it takes is a look through the wonderful reviews I've received for this story to cheer me up again. If you would like a reply to your review, please make sure you have PM's enabled, as I cannot reply otherwise._

_Notes on Divine Wind: The name comes from the Japanese word kamikaze, which literally means "divine wind" (as near as I can tell), but you're probably more familiar with the meaning "suicide bomber" that originated in WWII with pilots that flew into enemy (read: American) ships. The term actually originated in the wind currents around Japan that protected him from being attacked by China in whatever war that was. What that means in the context of this story is that this is Kiku's ultimate attack. Is he dead? I think I'll leave that to the next chapter to tell you. (Why yes, I am evil. Thank you for noticing.) ^_^_


	9. Chapter 9

a/n: I'm sorry I haven't updated in so long. I've been busy with other stuff (oneshots, my England cosplay, finishing up Hetalia in Wonderland—it's done, by the way. Go check it out. Please).

I apologise for the cliffhanger last chapter, but that's sort of how stories work. Chapters end on cliffhangers.

**Marina**, I would like to mention that neither Italy nor Romano will appear in this story at all, except as cameos or bit-parts. Italy would indeed make a cute Sailor, but not in my story.

I don't own these lovelies. Enjoy the chapter.

_Hetalia!_

"KIKU!" Herakles yelled, running forward, not caring about the tens of bystanders starting to point and whisper. All that was important to him now was Kiku, who could be hurt, who could be—

Herakles stopped that train of thought before it could leave the station as he dropped to his knees beside his friend. Carefully, he shook Kiku's shoulder. The unconscious boy (girl?) flopped limply and something shiny fell out of the collar of his blouse. Herakles leaned forward to inspect it more closely.

It was a pendant, sunburst-shaped, hanging from a thin chain around Kiku's neck. When Herakles poked it, he had to jerk his hand away as quickly as he could lest the heat emanating from it burn him.

Sunshine hopped onto Kiku's chest and nosed the pendant, flinching back from the heat. "That's not supposed to do that, he announced, jumping back to the ground. "It might be a good idea to get it off him."

Steeling himself against the heat, Herakles wrapped the hem of his shirt around his hand, gripped the pendant firmly, and tugged hard until the chain snapped. He dropped the piece of metal to the ground and stuck his slightly burnt fingers in his mouth.

His actions were rewarded when Kiku's brown eyes fluttered open. His figure and clothes changed back to normal and he sat up slowly. "Ah…my head," he murmured, putting a hand to the afflicted area.

"Kiku!" Sunshine mewed cheerfully, leaping into his lap. "You okay there?"

Kiku blinked several times, then yawned. "I'm very tired…but otherwise I feet fine. What happened?"

"You used an attack called Divine Wind," Herakles explained. "It took out the thing, but you passed out. When we tried to wake you, your pendant…it was like it was on fire. So…it's over there." He pointed at where the sunburst pendant was cooling on the pavement."

"That's strange," Kiku said.

"How so?" mewed Sunshine. "I mean, yeah, this is a little weird, but how, specifically, is it weird?"

"I've never learned an attack like that," Kiku said. "I mean—usually, I dream of the attack and what it looks like, but I've never dreamed of Divine Wind. I don't even remember shouting that, or anything after I started fighting that last thing. What did the attack look like, anyway?"

"Well…" Herakles began. "You started glowing gold, and the light spread out in a wave that vaporised the thing. Then the light disappeared and you collapsed…and your pendant was burning hot." He poked the pendant cautiously; it had cooled, so he returned it to Kiku, who put it in his pocket.

"It's definitely strange," Sunshine meowed, climbing back down to the pavement. "I mean, an attack like that…from what I know—and believe me, I'm a familiar, I know _everything_—Divine Wind is supposed to be a suicide attack."

Complete silence.

"So…how am I still alive?" Kiku asked, trying and failing to stand.

Herakles helped him up. "Cat?"

"Good question. That…I don't know," Sunshine admitted. "But I _do_ know that we should probably get out of here. People are starting to stare at us."

Herakles picked Kiku up piggy-back (despite the shorter boy's protests) and they exited, pursued by a cat.

_Hetalia!_

That evening, Kiku tried to do his homework. He did his best to focus on the math problems and reading assignments e was supposed to complete.

It wasn't working. The numbers and words before him refused to register in his mind; he read the same sentence six times without understanding a single word before he set the book aside in frustration. All he could think of was the events of the day—the ice cream, the double battle, the new attack, the burning hot pendant…

He glanced at the sunburst shining in the light of his lamp at the corner of the desk. Why had it heated up like that? Was it because of Kiku's use of Divine Wind?

He frowned. Sunshine had said that Divine Wind was supposed to be a suicide attack. If it was, then Kiku should have died. The question was, why hadn't he?

Herakles had taken the pendant off of him. Was that why? Perhaps…using the attack triggered something in the pendant to…maybe drain all of Kiku's life energy to power it? That would explain the heating-up of the pendant—perhaps life energy translated to heat energy.

But…why would something like that exist? When Herakles had described the attack, it had sounded very powerful. Was that the trade, then? A move that would definitely win the battle in exchange for the user's life?

Kiku sighed and shut off the lamp, rubbing his eyes. This was too heavy to think about right now, when he was sleepy and unfocused. He would deal with it in the morning.

_Hetalia!_

a/n: LAW OF CONSERVATION OF ENERGY? WHAT IS THIS THING YOU SPEAK OF? Somewhere, a physics professor is crying.

I apologise for the exposition-dump. I also sincerely apologise for the shortness of this chapter.

There will be a bit of a timeskip between this chapter and the next one. Just warning you all.

Feedback is appreciated, but not required!

_This chapter was posted on August 06, 2011. On this day in 1945, the atomic bomb hit Hiroshima. Nagasaki was hit on August 09. Japan surrendered unconditionally on August 15. Please take a moment to remember the millions who died in WWII._


	10. Chapter 10

_a/n: It's been…what, since August? That would be five months. I deeply apologise for this. First, my inspiration for this story has been quite dead. Second, the Sherlock fandom has been the focus of most of my attention recently. I know these are not reasonable excuses, and again, I deeply apologise. I can only hope that you haven't forgotten about this!_

_Characters are not mine. Please enjoy this chapter! Any and all feedback is loved._

* * *

**Chapter Ten**

Another day, another peaceful walk to school, another glaring contest between Sadiq and Herakles (Kiku really wished that they'd learn to get along—what was it that they were fighting about, anyway? They'd only met recently), another series of classes, another pile of homework.

Another battle.

Kiku skidded to a stop and whirled to face the thing, his skirt swirling around his legs, his wand held before his face. "Strike of One Thousand Sakura Petals!" he cried. A multitude of tiny pink petals spun out of nowhere and attacked the thing, causing it to scream in pain. That strike had been enough to finish it off—it vanished in the typical cloud of sparkles.

Kiku sighed in relief and lowered his wand, resting his hands on his knees. This thing had been tenacious and the battle had lasted a while, but it was finally over. He glanced around for a convenient alley and, finding none, started to walk in the direction of the park which he and Herakles frequented.

It had been two weeks since that incident with Divine Wind and the mysterious heating-up of the sunburst pendant. Nothing like that had happened again, but Kiku now kept the pendant on a much weaker chain, just in case it did. Things were going well, Kiku thought—the battles weren't too difficult, his homework load was manageable, and he was becoming good friends with Herakles.

Ah, there he was now, asleep on a sunny patch of grass, about ten stray cats piled around him. Kiku half-smiled at the familiar sight and plopped down beside his friend. The flutter of his skirt reminded him that he hadn't yet transformed back, which he remedied with a quick "_Kai_." A little flash of light, a ruffle of wind, and he was back to normal.

Although, really, what part of his life could be considered normal anymore? What definition of normal was he using? By the standards of most of the world, his day-to-day existence was most certainly not normal.

Transforming into a Sailor to fight things was still quite strange. He'd wondered if he should tell anyone else, but quickly decided against it. Who would believe him? He hardly believed it himself sometimes, and he was living through it.

Kiku huffed a quiet sigh and ran a hand through his short black hair. It wasn't that he minded being a Sailor, really—he'd witnessed first-hand the devastation the things could cause when left alone, and if Kiku had the ability to stop them, it was only his duty to do so—he just wished, sometimes, that it could be done without transforming into a girl. It mixed him up terribly, even with simple things such as walking (as Sailor Sunrise, his center of gravity was lower than usual, which threw his balance off). Keeping the difference between the Sailor and himself straight was just as difficult. A bit of a Sailor's confidence was nice in moderation, but too much of it could induce arrogance and stupidity.

He glanced up at a quiet rustle in the bushes a few yards away. "Who's there?" he called cautiously, getting to his feet.

Slowly, gracefully, a tall figure stood from the bush and sauntered over to where Kiku was standing beside the still-sleeping Herakles. The man's grin was visible below the white half-mask he wore to obscure his features. "A concerned party," he answered smoothly, his voice nearly familiar. "I'm not exactly pleased with how you've been dealing with my minions, Kiku Honda—or should I call you Sailor Sunrise?"

Kiku's breath caught in alarm. "How—"

The masked man shrugged. "Please. I just watched you transform, Sailor. Don't be dense. It's incredibly dull. Back to the point—I really don't like the way you've treated my poor minions—they're only lost and confused, poor things, blundering around in a new world like tourists in a foreign country, and you just destroy them with your pretty, flowery spells." He shook his head sadly and stepped forward, his long, brown fingers fishing the sunburst pendant out from under Kiku's shirt, inspecting it briefly, then snapping the chain with a flick of his wrist and dropping the pendant to the ground.

Kiku couldn't quite catch his breath. "Who are you? What do you want?"

"What I want, dear Sailor," said the masked man, "is to teach you a lesson." He caught Kiku's wrist and tugged him into a brisk walk. "As for who I am…" He paused, spinning around to face Kiku for maximum dramatic effect. "I think you know me quite well already." And with his free hand, Sadiq Adnan removed his mask.


End file.
